Flower Pins

I'm taking on a new identity as a "Flower Girl". One of my dearest friends, Stacy Spykerman (who is also Josh's cousin) has introduced me to an all-consuming world of sewing and crafting. (I could and WILL have to write a post committed solely to Stacy and the millions of reasons why she's wonderful). I tend to be the type of person who jumps in with both feet when I'm interested in something. When I began to love music as a child, I ended up learning the piano, flute, violin and guitar because I needed a taste of everything. (I have only kept up my piano skills and I can make my way through most guitar songs that involve major chords). The same is true of fabric flowers.

Stacy and I always try to keep up on mutual inspiration and disciplined crafting habits. Because she works and I stay home most days, our craft dates are usually in the evening, and they get interrupted by my child who needs a diaper change or who is dancing naked in the living room. Evening conversations are always choppy and challenging at our house before 8 pm, when the munchkin goes to bed. She and I will be threading a needle or analyzing a fashion website and then...gasp!...we get attacked by the playfully aggressive little man that seems to run this household. Still, our co-efforts have managed to be fruitful. We figured out, one dreary winter afternoon, how to assemble a fabric flower based on simple pattern we found online. We worked slowly and carefully, making each fold of the fabric simple and deliberate. We chose buttons for the centers: "Should I use a white for simplicity or make it pop with turquoise?". And when we were finished, the result was a delight! The flower pin was born.

I know Stacy believed that the flower pin was a success and she no-doubt wanted to continue making more. Me...on the other hand... I thought the pin was SO fabulous that I needed to hit every fabric store immediately, stock up on a variety of fabric scraps, and work continuously until I had a fabric garden of them! The flower pin brought me so much pleasure and happiness not only from making it, but also from allowing a small handmade item to represent me. Flowers are such a simple delight in life, and it almost felt like these pins grew from the snow-piled soil that had become my creative life. There was life again! I began distributing the pins to close friends, using them as test runs. Lindsey (Paul's, my brother-in-law's, girlfriend) added a pin to her bright red pea coat that had a navy floral fabric, a multi-colored floral fabric, and a small orange button. (I loved the way it looked, but I also loved how it changed and brightened the coat.)

However, when I get carried away with something, I don't always have an end result in mind. I sometimes dive into things without ever even CONSIDERING the goal, end result, or destination. In fact, sometimes I deliberately ignore it. I have countless examples of this in my life, including moving to Colorado, cutting/dying my hair, having a baby, picking out my first car, and choosing a prom dress. At prom, I had to live with the reality that my dress was probably second-best to the one I could have loved if only I had shopped an hour longer. I hope my days of "I feel like doing something different!" and ending up with neon-yellow hair are over. (I remember my dad looking at me and my sister as we stood in front of the mirror doing the "It's not THAT bad" routine and saying, "I have 2 words: 1. butt 2. ugly". He was right. It took 2 boxes of brown dye and 2 years of growing it out to prove it). I made flower pins the same way: I had absolutely no idea what I would do with them, but I knew they made me happy.

Once I looked at the pile of flowers on my kitchen table, I decided it would probably be best for the flowers as well as my creative efforts if I made a plan for them, found them a purpose or a home. I pinned a few on other friends, made a frame concoction for others, and decided I would take the rest downtown to a boutique to inquire about selling them. I wanted more coats in this town to look like Lindsey's, sporting a badge of delight on their collar or front pocket.

Graciously, the owner of the store agreed to sell them. She also asked that I put them on headbands and bring them in this weekend. I will most likely spend my evening rummaging through thrift stores and Goody hair supplies to find the perfect headbands for this project. I'm fortunate (as are the flowers) that they will be displayed, hopefully admired, and possibly even purchased. Things, overall, tend to turn out that way for me, even when I don't even know that's where I'm headed.

This whole experience has been very symbolic for me. I'm so grateful that my spontaneity and passion, although aimless, usually land somewhere beautiful. I'm blessed through the chaos of my own decisions. And even though I'm not the most put-together person and oftentimes my ideas are like balloons that float away, I want to be just like the flower pins I make. I want to make other people lives better and brighter just, simply, by being pinned on.